He just finished his twelve-mile bike ride. His enthusiasm was high now that the inclement weather had finally passed. For two weeks his bike had remained in the shed.
But something wasn’t right. He discovered his problem when he took his pulse. His heart rate had gone from 120 to 140 beats/minute! Who would have guessed that the condition of the heart muscle could slip so quickly?
The condition of one’s heart makes a big difference. It is the seat of our emotions.
One day you come home and see your son’s bike laying in front of the garage. You pick it up and put it away. You kiss your wife. You hug your son. Everything is fine.
The next day, after you lose a client at work, you come home, and there is your son’s bike again. This time you yell at your wife for not making the kids pick up their things. You push your son towards the garage to pick up his “stupid” bike.
Have your wife and son changed since the day before? No. You have.
If only we could keep it together emotionally day after day. Keeping our hearts emotionally fit is even harder than keeping them physically fit. It’s more important, too.
How do we control our emotions? Aren’t they what control us?
In Psalm 73:26 we read: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
God is the one who enables us to keep it together emotionally. If that seems too easy an answer, we need to learn that it cost God the life of his Son Jesus.
Heart muscles deteriorate without exercise. Time away from our God and his Word has the same effect. It can leave us emotional wrecks.
Take time to grow through worship. Hear God speak his Word. It can make everyone emotionally fit.
Pastor R.
